If you ask most people what the worst thing they've ever awoken from a good night's sleep to find in their driveway is, you might get answers like trees, raccoons, or any number of more colourful answers. Joy Guider, who lives not far from Halbrite, has them all beat. 

Guider, whose property is about two miles from the village of 119 people, found a derailed train blocking the laneway at the front of her property this morning. The derailment caused some traffic slowdowns on Highway 39 as well, limiting it to one lane. 

"We had that storm last night at about 9:00," said Guider. "The train was going past then, and then the winds hit. It got really noisy. I'm presuming that's when these cars all left the track. I couldn't tell that they were derailed at that time because it was dark, but I was up about 4:00 this morning, and I could see that they were all derailed."

Guider said her first guess was about 20-25 cars had left the track. Since then, her son has talked to a member of the CP Police service. She said she knows workers are on-site, but she can't actually see them from her yard because the train blocks her view. 

"The engine that was pulling this stuff must've disconnected from it and left," she said. "It's just been workers down there, but all I see is the derailed train, they're on the other side next to the highway."

The Department of Highways first reported the derailment at 6:00 this morning on the highway hotline, but Guider thinks this happened well before that. One of the shipping containers is across her driveway, so she can't go anywhere at the moment, but she still felt lucky all things considered. 

"I'm stuck, I can't go (any) place," she chuckled. "But they're good about it, they said they would get that off of there before the day is done. And the rest of it may take some time because they're obviously right off the track." 

Guider also said she saw a freight train go through the track after the derailment, meaning the track is open, though the train was moving very slowly. 

"I'm just thankful it wasn't tanker cars," she added. "I'm thankful it is what it is... I'm pretty sure they're doing the best they can out there."